OUR RATING SYSTEM
(*****) = do NOT miss! This one is as good as they come.
(****) = Fantastic - It's worth the price of the ticket (and then some).
(***) = Average - Nothing really bad, nothing really spectacular...
(**) = Perhaps you should find another movie to see.
(*) = The bottom of the barrel. It would be hard to find something less entertaining or more unworthy of your time.



Maureen (Mo) holds a PhD in marine geophysics (Dr. Maureen, to you) and works for the U.S. Geological Survey in Santa Cruz, CA. Maureen enjoys the outdoors (skiing, swimming, hiking, camping), dogs, cooking, singing, getting into (and out of) uncomfortable situations, and most importantly, watching quality movies. She makes a point of seeing as many Oscar-nominated films as possible each year and (correctly) predicting the winners. Her role on this blog is primarily as an advisor, collaborator, and "chime in"-er.

John (Jo) holds a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film Studies. He currently lives in Chicago, Illinois and works as a nurse. His one true obsession in life is movies... The good, the bad, and everything in between. Other than that, he is busy caring for his cat, painting, writing, exploring Chicago, and debating on whether or not to worship Tilda Swinton as a deity. John is the master and commander and primary author of this blog.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Oscar reactions


What a year it's been. In a ceremony full of perfect moments (Lupita's acceptance speech), the expected winners (Matthew and Jared in the acting races), the weird (what did John Travolta just call Idina Menzel?), and the uncomfortable (I've never seen Liza Minnelli more prevalent in an awards show in years), the Oscars have wrapped up for good. As expected (and thankfully so), our split between Best Picture and Best Director saw 12 Years a Slave make history with its Best Picture win. Slave tallied up just 3 Oscars vs the goliath of Gravity with its 7. It was just one short of tying Cabaret for the film winning the most Oscars without taking the top prize as well. 

On the whole, mojo correctly predicted all but 4 of the races (Best Documentary, Best Editing, Best Makeup, and Live Action Short), although on my own personal ballot at the Oscar party, I (John) switched live action short to the actual winner (Helium) in a last-minute bout of clarity. Our misses were not altogether surprises, just another set of categories where the winner was too close to call. 

The night rolled on, and Ellen made the most of what she had to work with, although did it feel like she was losing it near the end? While many of her jokes fell flat and went on a tad too long (the pizza gag seemed endless), the night itself went by without a glitch (and for the most part, without an upset). 

The night's speeches were empowering, elegant, and each of the acting winners were truly perfect on stage. While we hate when winners pull out paper to read off their speech with shaky hands (Best Animated Short, we're looking at you), there were no 'what on earth' moments, perhaps save for our Documentary winner taking to the stage to sing an entire rendition of 'His Eye is On the Sparrow.' 

Although we'll be scratching our heads as to what exactly happened during Idina's performance, or why it was necessary to have Bette Midler appear after the Memorial segment, this year's race will really be remembered as one of the closest races in history, and thankfully, with the rightful winner winning gold in the end. 
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